Drop tube structure



June 1956 E. F. TROMBLEY 2,750,079

DROP TUBE STRUCTURE Filed May 0. 1955 3nventor ERNEST F. TR DMBLEY attorney United States Patent DROP TUBE STRUCTURE Ernest F. Trombley, Bridgeport, Conn.

Application May 10, 1955, Serial No. 507,329

8 Claims. (Cl. 222-148) The present invention relates to a dripless drop tube structure for use in connection with the loading assembly for bulk loading of oil tank trucks and the like.

A typical truck loading assembly is mounted upon a rack or platform at the side of which the truck to be filled is driven, the assembly consisting of a boom-like extensible tube mounted upon the rack for universal swivelling action and having at its outer end a drop tube connected by a swing joint and which, during the loading operation, is inserted into the tank through the filler hole in its upper side, the oil or other liquid being fed to the tank under pressure through a suitable loading line valve.

Tank trucks usually have a series of tanks which are successively filled, and in carrying out this procedure the drop tube is successively inserted in the several tanks, becoming immersed in the oil or other liquid as the tank is filled. As the tube is removed from one tank and inserted into the next tank, a certain amount of the liquid will remain in the tube as well as on its outside surface, and with theconventional drop tube structures heretofore in use this liquid would drip upon the outer side of the truck as the tube was moved from one tank to the next, and would also drip upon the rack or platform at the completion of the filling operation. This is not only an unsanitary procedure, but represents a considerable loss of the oil or other liquid, as well as a failure of the apparatus to deliver to the tank the metered quantity of liquid intended to be supplied.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a drop tube structure having valve means therein which, during the pressure feeding of the oil or other liquid, is moved to open position through such pressure, being automatically closed when the pressure is relieved through the closing of the loading valve, thus retaining within the drop tube any oil or other liquid that it may contain, so that in moving the drop tube from one tank to the next there will be no dripping of such retained liquid.

' It is a further object to provide means whereby the valve may be manually opened to release the liquid retained in the drop tube for delivery to the last tank of the truck being filled, thereby insuring delivery of the full quantity of liquid purchased.

A further object is to provide wiper means upon the outer side of the drop tube, by means of which liquid retained upon the outer surface may be wiped therefrom as the drop tube is removed from the tank, thereby causing such liquid to be deposited in the tank rather than be allowed to drip upon the truck or other immediate surface. 1

Other objects and advantages of the invention will ice become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein a satisfactory embodiment of the invention is shown. However, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details disclosed but includes all such variations and modifications as fall within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a drop tube, according to the invention, shown mounted upon the end of the swivelly mounted tube of a loading assembly, the dot-and-dash lines indicating the position of the wiper means when moved to the lower end of the drop tube;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, the valve means being shown in its normal closed position;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 55 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view of the lower end of the drop tube, and showing the valve in the open position to which it is moved either through the pressure flow of liquid during loading, or manually; and

Fig. 7 is a side elevation, on a reduced scale, of a loading assembly and showing the drop tube in position to be inserted in a tank of a truck.

Referring to the drawings, the drop tube, according to the illustrated exemplary embodiment of the invention, comprises an elongated cylindrical tube' 10, preferably of bronze, having its upper threaded end screwed into the flanged end 11 of an elbow 12, the other end of the elbow being connected by a swing joint 13 to one end of an elbow 14, the other end of which is connected to the outlet end of a loading valve 15 having its inlet end mounted upon the end of a tube 16. As shown in Fig. 7, the tube 16 is one of the telescoping parts of a boom, indicated generally as 17, and which is mounted upon a rack or platform 18 by a universal swivel mounting 19 so that the boom may be swung vertically and laterally to any desired position, and being extensible, may have the drop tube 10 moved into position to be inserted in the filler opening 20 of one of the tanks 21 of the tank truck 22.

The elbow 12 is provided with a vertically disposed internally threaded nipple extension 23 within which is engaged a packing gland bearing, generally indicated as 24, and within which a vertical valve operating rod 25 is engaged for sliding movement. The packing gland bearing consists of an externally threaded cup-like packing ring holder 26 screwed into the internally threaded nipple 23, the lower end wall 27 of the holder being provided with a central opening 28 for the rod 25 and supporting the lower end of a series of chevron-type packing rings 29 engaged at their upper end by the apertured hub portion 30 of a pressure plate member 31 secured to the laterally extending upper wall'portion 32 of the holder 26 by screws 33, which, upon being tightened down, compress the packing rings.

. A cylindrical wall 34 extends upwardly from the lateral wall 32 of the holder to provide a cup-like enclosure for the upper end of the rod 25, a cap 35 hinged at 36 to the wall 34, normally covering the enclosure against the entrance of dirt and rain water. The cap is provided opposite the hinge with a handle 37 and upon its inner side with a spring catch 38 which normally frictionally retains it in closed position. When the rod 25 is manually operated, as will hereinafter more fully appear, the cap is moved to its open position as indicated by the dot-anddash lines in Fig. 3. In the closed position, the cap protects the end of the rod against accidental operation due to inadvertent contact therewith, and also provides weather protection against the entrance of rain. A push button 39 is screwed upon the upper end of the rod 25 for its convenient manual operation.

Upon the lower threaded end of the tube there is engaged an internally threaded coupling ring 40 provided with an externally threaded downwardly extending inwardly projecting annular valve seat portion 41 which, in the assembled relation, has its inner periphery substantially flush with the inner surface of the tube 10. A cage-like deflector nozzle member 42 is internally threaded at its upper end and is screwed upon the externally threaded portion 41 of the coupling member 40. The nozzle member is of generally cylindrical form and is provided in its side wall with a series of relatively large openings 43 through which fluid flowing down the drop tube is adapted to be laterally ejected. A spring loaded valve member, generally indicated as 44, is slidably mounted within the member 42 and normally closes against the valve seat 41, being secured to the lower end of the rod 25, so that upon downward manually applied movement of the rod the valve is opened.

The valve member consists of an annular dish-like lower member 45 in which is engaged an annular valve disc 46 formed of suitable yielding oil-proof composition for seating engagement with the valve seat 41. The valve disc is retained in the member 45 by an upper valve member 47 of generally inverted cone shape, provided with a downwardly extending tubular stem portion 48 engaged through the center opening of the member 45, and secured to the member 47 by screws 49. The upper end of the member 47 is provided with a cylindrical socket portion 50 in which the lower end of the rod 25 is removably secured by a screw 51.

The cylindrical tubular stem portion 48 of the valve member 47 is slidably engaged upon a cylindrical tubular post member 52 having a threaded stud 53 screwed into the base 54 of the nozzle member 42, an annular pocket 55' surrounding the lower end of the post 52 within which the downwardly projecting portion of the stem 48 engages in the open position of the valve, as seen in Fig. 6.

A helical expansion spring 56 is engaged within the tubular portion 48 and the tubular post 52 and normally exerts upward pressure upon the valve to retain it in closed position. The pressure of the spring 56, however, is predetermined, so that when the valve is open during loading it will be overcome by the flow of the liquid under pressure through the tube 10, the greater pressure of the fluid moving the valve 44 to its open position as seen in Fig. 6, allowing the liquid to flow into the tank. During such flow, the inverted conical shape of the upper valve member 47 provides a deflecting surface deflecting the flow of the fluid laterally through the openings 43. When a tank is filled the valveiS is closed, relieving the, pressure of the fluid in the drop tube and allowing the spring 56 to move the valve 44 to its closed position, thus retaining the liquid in the drop tube so that it may be removed from the filled tank and placed in the next tank to be filled without dripping of the liquid from the tube.

Also, as the drop tube is removed from the tank, any liquid adhering to its outer surface is removed. For this purpose, a collar-like wiper member, indicated generally as 57, is slidably mounted upon the tube and consists of an internally threaded" ring member 58 having an in wardly extending top flange 59 and an externally threaded ring member 60 having an inwardly extending bottom flange 61, the member 60 being screwed into the member 58 to retain between the flanges 59 and 61 a wiper ring member 62 formed of rubber or suitable resilient composition material. The wiper ring member is provided at its lower end with an annular shouldered recess 63 engaged by the flange 61 so that upon tightening of the ring member 60 the wiper ring is vertically compressed and laterally expanded to regulate the degree of pressure engagement with the surface of the tube 10.

The wiper member is normally retained in its raised position by a pair of spring catch members 6464 disposed at opposite sides and having a retaining nose portion 65 which snaps into engagement with the upper side of the flange 11 of the elbow 12 as the wiper member is moved to the upper end of the tube 10, the upper sides of the nose portion 65 being inclined so that they are forced outwardly as they engage the lower edge and side wall of the flange 11. In order to wipe the liquid from the outer surface of the tube, the operator first releases the catches 64 and thereupon moves the wiper member downwardly upon the tube, thus causing the wiper ring 62 to wipe any liquid thereon downwardly to the lower end, the surface of the tube being completely cleaned as the wiper ring contacts the upper side of the coupling ring- 4% as seen by the dotted lines in Fig. 1. As this operation is performed while the nozzle end of the drop tube is disposed within the tiller opening of the tank, the liquid wiped from the outside of the tube will flow into the tank. The small amount of liquid that may remain upon the surface of the deflector nozzle 43 may be removed with a rag, and the drop tube thereupon moved to the next tank to be filled without any possibility of liquid dripping therefrom.

It will be noted that as the drop tube is moved from one tank to the next, liquid is retained therein by the closed valve 44. When the last tank of a truck is filled, the liquid retained within the tube 10 by the closed valve 44 is released by manually opening the valve 44 by pressing downwardly upon the push button end 39 of the rod 25, this operation being performed after the drop tube is lifted from the tank and while its nozzle end is still within the filler opening.

What is claimed is:

1. In a .drop tube structure for the bulk loading of liquid under pressure, an elongated tubular member for vertical insertion in a truck or the like to be loaded having an upper inlet end and a lower outlet end, a deflector nozzle on said outlet end having laterally directed outlet openings, a downwardly directed annular valve seat above said openings, and a spring loaded valve member normally pressed upwardly against said valve seat adapted to be moved downwardly through the force of pressure fed liquid directed through said tube to a point below the upper ends of said openings.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1, further characterized by a push rodconnected to said valve and extending upwardly in said tube beyond its inlet end.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein said valve member includes a downwardly and outwardly inclined upper side adapted in the open position to deflect liquid laterally outwardly through said openings.

4. The invention as defined in claim 1, further characterized by an elbow member secured to the inlet end of said tube, a vertical rod bearing in said elbow axially aligned with said tube, and a push rod connected to said valve and extending upwardly in said tube through said bearing.

5. The invention as defined in claim 4, wherein said rod bearing includes a packing gland.

6. The invention as defined in claim 4, further characterized by a cover normally enclosing the upper end of said rod.

7. In a drop tube structure for the bulk loading of liquid under pressure, an elongated tubular member for vertical insertion in a truck or thelike to be loaded having an upper inlet end and a lower outlet end, and a wiper ring slidably engaged upon said tubular member normally disposed adjacent its inlet end and movable downwardly thereon to its outlet end.

8. The invention as defined in claim 7, further characterized by releasable means normally retaining said wiper ring in its upper position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,892,344 Huber Dec. 27, 1932 

